46 Facts About Lea Michele

1. Lea Michele came to prominence playing Rachel Berry on the Fox series Glee, for which she received an Emmy Award nomination, two Golden Globe nominations and won four People's Choice Awards, three Teen Choice Awards and a Satellite Award.

2. Lea Michele made her feature film debut in New Year's Eve, and was signed to Columbia Records in 2012.

3. Lea Michele's is the only child of Edith Thomasina, a retired nurse, and Mark David Sarfati, a real estate agent and former delicatessen owner.

4. Lea Michele's spent the first four years of her life living in the Bronx, until she and her parents moved to the more suburban area of Tenafly, New Jersey.

5. The family rented an apartment in Manhattan, where they would live when Lea Michele was performing on Broadway.

6. Lea Michele was educated at Rockland Country Day School for elementary school in Congers, New York.

7. Lea Michele started using her middle name at an early age.

8. Lea Michele went along to support a friend, but ended up landing the part herself.

9. In 1997, Lea Michele was homeschooled while living and working in Toronto, where she performed in a production of Ragtime.

10. Lea Michele refrained from auditioning for Broadway roles during her freshman, sophomore and junior years so she could focus on her education.

11. In 2004, Lea Michele began portraying Shprintze in the Broadway revival of the musical Fiddler on the Roof, and understudied the role of Chava.

12. Lea Michele's performed on the cast recording of the show.

13. Lea Michele's elected to remain with Spring Awakening, which premiered on Broadway in December 2006.

14. In January 2008, Lea Michele starred in a concert production of the musical Alive in the World as Phoebe, aiding the Twin Towers Orphan Fund.

15. Lea Michele's debuted her solo cabaret Once Upon a Dream at Feinstein's at the Loews Regency.

16. Lea Michele's starred alongside Brian Stokes Mitchell as Javert and John Lloyd Young as Marius Pontmercy, both of whom would go on to guest star on Glee.

17. Lea Michele won a number of awards for portraying Rachel, including the 2009 Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy.

18. Lea Michele's was nominated for the 2009 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy, and the 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

19. Lea Michele was included on Time list of the 100 Most Influential People In the World for 2010.

20. In February 2011, Lea Michele performed at The Grammys' MusiCares Person of the Year event in Los Angeles, honoring Barbra Streisand.

21. Lea Michele's sang "My Man" from the Streisand film Funny Girl.

22. Lea Michele's began recordings for the album soon after on October 19, 2012.

23. From 2015 to 2016, Lea Michele starred in the Fox horror-comedy series Scream Queens, alongside original scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, portraying the quirky, neck brace-wearing Hester Ulrich.

24. Lea Michele began recording for her second studio album in April 2015.

25. On October 8, 2017, Lea Michele performed as a headlining act at the third annual musical theatre festival Elsie Fest, founded by her Glee co-star Darren Criss.

26. Lea Michele's was scheduled to perform seven shows a week, excluding Thursday evenings.

27. The parallels between Lea Michele taking on the role and her Glee character's story line where she lands her dream role in the musical's first Broadway revival have been widely discussed in the media.

28. Lea Michele wrote, "I really love her, she's always been such a role model to me.

29. In 2008, Lea Michele performed in a benefit concert production of Alive in the World to aid the Twin Towers Orphan Fund.

30. In September 2010, Lea Michele was honored by PETA for her work with animals.

31. In 2010 Lea Michele was introduced in Time 100 list for her artistic talent and the ability to influence student participation in school activities.

32. In October 2010, Lea Michele performed at a benefit concert for The Painted Turtle.

33. In July 2012, Lea Michele hosted the launch of the Valspar Hands for Habitat charity auction, donating a signed hand print to be auctioned off.

34. Lea Michele's was then the host of the fundraiser "Lea Michele's Night of Shopping and Cocktails" on December 14, 2013, presented by SodaStream, which benefited Chrysalis, a non-profit organization helping homeless people find work.

35. Lea Michele continues to support the Los Angeles-based non-profit Step Up and attends their annual Step Up Inspiration Awards event.

36. In November 2017, Lea Michele partnered with eBay to design a pin to benefit Feeding America; she auctioned off a set visit to one of her projects in 2018.

37. On May 1, 2019, Lea Michele joined Former First Lady Michelle Obama at Reach Higher's 2019 College Signing Day.

38. In 2007, along with her Spring Awakening co-stars, Lea Michele was featured in a Gap Inc marketing campaign.

39. In 2010, Lea Michele became a spokesmodel for beauty company Dove, performing the song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music in television commercials for the brand.

40. In December 2018 Lea Michele teamed with Old Navy and Lyft to announce free car sharing to stores for holidays.

41. In February 2019, Lea Michele appeared in a commercial for ZOLA, a wedding planning website.

42. Lea Michele began working with actor Cory Monteith in 2008, when they were cast as love interests on Glee.

43. On May 2, 2020, Lea Michele announced that she and Reich were expecting their first child.

44. Ware made her comments in direct response to Lea Michele having posted a message on social media saying "George Floyd did not deserve this.

45. Lea Michele responded with an apology, noting that the comments from numerous cast members in response to Ware's accusation had made her aware that her general treatment of all cast members during those years was "insensitive or inappropriate", a sign of "immaturity", and that she was "unnecessarily difficult" toward others around her, and she would "keep working to better myself and take responsibility for my actions.

46. The rumor started with Jaye Hunt and Robert Ackerman of the podcast One More Thing as they were discussing a scene from Naya Rivera's memoir Sorry Not Sorry in which Lea Michele refused to improvise scenes with Tim Conway.